1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to clearing graphics data buffers, and more specifically to storing clear values and referencing the clear values for portions of graphics data buffers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The performance of conventional graphics processing systems is sometimes limited by the bandwidth that is available between a graphics processor and external memory storing graphics data, such as color and z values. At various times during rendering, the color and z values are cleared to predetermined values. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an improved system and method for performing clear operations while minimizing read and write accesses of the external memory storing the graphics data.